Page 80 of Sing For Me

I bury myself in work for the rest of the afternoon, until it’s time for me and Cass to resume our fight about the renovations, only this time with an audience.

All five of us siblings are in attendance: the three regular employees—Cassandra, me, and Jude, as well as Chelsea. Even Griffin’s going to join us by telephone in an hour. Cass’s husband Blake and Sarah Cooper round out the rest of the attendees.

But by four o’clock, an hour has passed, and we’re still stressed. Cass and I are both making points. Meanwhile Jude is tossing a tennis ball up in the air over and over again, driving me insane.

“Sarah,” I say, knowing I can’t let my head affect my actual job of keeping this business fiscally responsible. “Maybe you should go over what these numbers on the ground mean again.” I have to bite my cheek from saying “so Cass can understand.” That would be untrue, for one, and also just a dickish thing to say.

Sarah looks slightly uncomfortable, and a wash of guilt goes over me for dragging her into this little spat between me and Cass.

“Thank you,” Cass says, sparing Sarah. “Eli, we know the numbers.” Then she turns it over to Blake, who doesn’t even work here, but still provides an outside professional opinion, which I normally appreciate. Except of course he’s going to side with Cass. He goes off on some of the things we could do to up revenue if we stretched the timeline out partway between what Cass and I want, which I realize is a compromise.

But I find myself zoning out, because honestly, as much as I should care about the business, right now I don’t. I don’t want to be here. Where I want to be is with Reese. Every waking moment I want to see Reese. Not just because of what we did in her office—the hottest fucking moment I can recall in recent years. No, ever. It’s because I meant what I said when I was with her. I want everything. I want to tell her we don’t need to move fast. That for me, this thing we have isn’t time limited.

Then my foolish brain flashes me a memory of the feeling of my cock buried in her throat, and now all I want to do is imagine fucking her, every which way. Bending her over her desk in her office.

In mine.

“Eli!”

I blink, looking at Cass. She looks like she wants to toss her glass of water in my face.

Good, I need a cold shower.

“We boring you?”

“Yes?” I say.

She rolls her eyes, but at least I get a laugh out of Jude.

Griffin comes on the line finally.

And I didn’t think it was possible, but that’s when everything goes from bad to worse.

“Why the fuck is my face on a billboard in Taipei?” He doesn’t ask it. He growls it like a bear.

The obvious question would be “What the fuck are you doing in Taipei?” But we all gave up asking him that years ago. Besides, his question has me alarmed.

“Your face isn’t on any of the marketing material,” I say, rifling through my papers for the glossy package Kelly’s production company sent us last week.

Griff makes a grumbling noise, then my email dings, along with everyone else’s.

I open it on my laptop.

Griffin has just sent through a shot of an electronic billboard high above a busy intersection in downtown Taipei. The image is huge.CHEF’S APPRENTICE: SIZZLING SEASON SIX it says across the bottom. But the words are dwarfed by all the people.

Neil’s at the front, his arms folded. He’s wearing that Crocodile Dundee hat and holding a mic, and his body is angled slightly sideways, but that’s to accommodate Augusta, who’s mirroring his stance, only she’s holding a wooden spoon.

I feel ill at just that part.

Jacques is next to her, looking mid-yell, and the other contestants are standing behind them. Making up the rear is Cassandra and me, with Jude, and Chelsea, sized smaller next to us.

And Griffin, his bearded face surly.

“I haven’t seen that one,” Cassandra says, frowning. “Have you, Eli?”

“No,” I admit. Shit. Griff is small, but still visible. He’s been digitally added to the poster.

I groan. This isn’t good, and we all know it. Cass and I exchange a glance.

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